PENSACOLA, Fla. – Valdosta State sophomore Amaya Broadus had a career-high 18 rebounds and 14 points leading four players in double figures in an 82-71 loss at West Florida Saturday afternoon.  The Lady Blazers trailed by 16 at halftime, but used a strong second half pulling back to within four in the final minute, but UWF made its free throws to seal the game.
 
Broadus went 6 of 11 from the field with nine rebounds on the offensive end and nine defensively with two free throws, for her second double-double of the season.  Junior Erin Whalen finished with a team-high 15 points on 6 of 15 from the floor, 3 of 7 from deep and ten rebounds.  Senior Aryana Hicks added 13 points and sophomore Ka'Miah Pryor added 14 points off the bench.
 
The Lady Blazers (3-5, 1-2 GSC) struggled shooting at 24 of 67 from the field for 35.8 percent, while they were 4 of 17 from distance and 19 of 24 from the line.  The 18 rebounds by Broadus were the most in the Gulf South Conference this season and tied for the 11^th-most in NCAA Division II so far this season.  VSU's single game record of 24 rebounds came from Tracy Sprolden in 1999-2000, marking a tie for eighth-most in league history.  The 18 by Broadus Saturday were the most since Brittney Nelson pulled down 21 rebounds against Georgia Southwestern on Nov. 17, 2012.
 
The Argos (5-3, 2-1 GSC) didn't shoot much better at 39.1 percent on 25 of 64 from the floor and were 4 of 22 from deep, but the big difference was at the charity stripe as UWF was 28 of 33 from the line, including 19 of 22 in the second half after going 9 of 11 in the first half.  Amelia Bell had a team-high 23 points for UWF on 10 of 13 from the field and 3 of 3 from the lien, while Avery O'Connor was 1 of 6 from the field with one 3-pointer, but was 13 of 14 from the line for 16 points.  
 
VSU tied the game at two on a layup from Whalen as it would be the only tie of the game with UWF building a 10-4 lead on a layup from Ebba Zalamans, but the Lady Blazers cut the deficit to two on a jumper from Broadus and a layup from Hicks for a 10-8 score with 5:22 left in the first quarter.  From there, UWF would end the first ten minutes of play on a 9-3 run for a 19-11 lead.  
 
The Lady Blazers kept fighting and trimmed a double-digit deficit back to six with two free throws from sophomore Alina Martin, but a layup from Bell and a triple from AnnaRose Tyre pushed the lead back to 11 at 32-21 with 5:32 remaining in the half.  VSU would once again cut the deficit to under ten as Broadus scored in the pain for a 32-25 deficit with 2:56 left in the second quarter, but UWF had the answer again, finishing the half on an 11-2 run for a 43-27 advantage at the break.
 
Broadus began the second half with a pair of charity tosses and Whalen capped the start with a triple as VSU pulled within 47-37 with 7:10 remaining in the quarter for a 10-4 run to start the half.  Freshman Kaci Demps hit a big 3-pointer for a 49-42 deficit with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter.  VSU pulled within eight at 54-46 on a layup from Martin late in the frame, but UWF had the answer each time at the other end for a 61-52 score through 30 minutes. 
 
In the fourth, UWF scored eight of first ten points of the frame for a 69-54 lead with 7:28 to go, but Whalen buried a triple off her own steal for an eight-point deficit at 73-65 with 2:16 to play. The Lady Blazers would continue to chip away and pulled within four at 75-71 on two charity tosses from Hicks with 39 seconds left.  UWF went 5 of 6 from the line down the stretch and capped the game with a layup with three seconds remaining for the 82-71 score.
 
The Lady Blazers continue on the road next week as they travel to Trevecca Nazarene for a 6:30 p.m. ET tip on Dec. 18 and then at Lee on Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. before the Christmas break.